The Bald Eagle dwarfs most other raptors, including the Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk. It has a heavy body, large head, and long, hooked bill. In flight, a Bald Eagle holds its broad wings flat like a board. Bald eagles can see four times better than a human with perfect vision.

Bald Eagle by Paul Sager, on Flickr


The bald eagle is important in various Native American cultures and is the national bird of the United States since 1782. The eagle is prominent in seals and logos, coinage, postage stamps, and other items relating to the U.S. federal government. The regal bird isn't really bald, their white-feathered heads gleam in contrast to their chocolate-brown body and wings.

Bald Eagle


Following the banning of DDT, the numbers of wild Bald Eagles gradually increased since the 1970s, with spectacular recoveries in some states. Big concentrations can be found wintering along rivers or reservoirs in many areas. In 2007, the bald eagle was officially removed from the federal Endangered Species list. Current populations are estimated at 10,000 pairs in the continental U.S.

Bald Eagle


The images shared in this post come from Miami and Brevard Zoos in Florida in November 2018. All come from an EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II, EF Extender 1.4x III and EOS 5DIII. The images were captured in RAW and processed using Adobe Lightroom and Topaz DeNoise v6

The largest Bald Eagle nest on record, in St. Petersburg, Florida, was 2.9 meters in diameter and 6.1 meters tall. Another famous nest—in Vermilion, Ohio—was shaped like a wine glass and weighed almost two metric tons. It was used for 34 years until the tree blew down.

Bald Eagle


Many zoos exhibit eagles that were severely wounded in the wild. For example, none of the three eagles at the Brevard Zoo could survive in the wild due to the extent of their injuries leaving them permanently handicapped and no longer able to fly.

Bald Eagle


The eagles shown here from the Miami and Brevard Zoos in Florida were captured using an EOS 5DIII, EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II and Extender 1.4III. The images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.

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